Book excerpt: Midnite Rainbow undresses under the cover of night. In this sensuous collection, Sequoia Olivia Mercier caresses supple language to lay bare desire: "jambalaya on a half shell crescent moon dipped from open mouth of God stick your finger down my throat split the confetti filled piñata loosen my tongue", At other times family secrets get naked and forgiven, "grace is an open hand on my heart filled with forgiveness for the times your wings withered and became fingers crossing boundaries groping between my legs looking for something I could not give". Real talk from a poet with her tongue deep off in your ear. Michael Datcher, Author: Raising Fences These are umph! poems. Sequoia opens the lies and joys you've kept in mason jars and simultaneously quenches your thirst while making you beg for one more sip. Mercier has lived, embraced change, and now has the guts to write about it. S. Pearl Sharp, Author, Black Women For Beginners and filmmaker, The Healing Passage/ Voices From The Water